Late Night Women's Hour - initial notes and analysis
Broadcast date: Fri 28 Oct 2016, 11pm
'Home'
The concept of 'home' is explored from a range of theoretical and historical perspectives, with Lauren Laverne compering an all female panel who discuss this in an orderly and egalitarian manner
A round table discussion on the Danish concept of 'hygge', which in 2016 was a popular buzzword
"available on one popular book website" - obligated to avoid any accusations of advertising, in order to retain impartiality
"Danes...are very good...at being equal, having a great time" - Danish commentator plays up to Danish stereotypes for a British audience
The ideological implications of this concept are analysed... briefly. Is it an exclusionary concept? This idea is clearly too depressing to dwell on, and moves on to Ikea instead!
"The accoutrements of this imagined lifestyle" - a sophisticated lexis, making reference to hyperreality
Provides female, middle aged, middle class women with the pleasure of listening to people who share a similar lifestyle
A range of accents, from stereotypically middle-class, received pronunciation, to Laverne's friendly, approachable Geordie accent
Discussion of social media, for example Instagram, and how it relates to our life
An all female panel is an absolute rarity, even for a PBS like the BBC who have a remit for appealing to a range of particular audience
However... is an all female panel potentially sexist? Does it reinforce the notion of a gender binary?
Resolutely middle-class lexis and mode of address
Sudden shift to a jokey, friendly mode of address, discussion of shared experiences at the breakup of marriages in IKEA, once more suggesting a particular target audience. It also demonstrates a peculiar brand of gentle snobbery against mass produced products such as those fabricated by IKEA...
Discussion of how patriarchal hegemonic norms were reinforced by white, male Anglo-Saxons, reinforcing a broadly feminist ideology
Exploration of the public and private sphere and the division of labour... very different intended audience than the 1964 edition of Woman magazine, for example!
In depth discussion of female autonomy and shifting societal expectations of women following the 2nd world war
Themes of anti-consumerism and anti-capitalism...but...
...an anecdote regarding only having access to "20 books" draws a collective gasp, again suggesting the value of books to the middle-class audience
"boxes of stuff you spend ages packing up, that you think are expendable..." frequent assumptions that the middle-class target audience own a variety of middle class items
Middle class language: "I'm using it as an metonym!"
